(def.) A business environment defined by (1) an expectation of total informational transparency and accessibility and (2) a requirement for flawless logistics and operations. Named for Google and Wal-Mart. (c)Josefowicz Associates, LLC

Google's steady encroachment into the corporate software market continued yesterday as it announced the acquisition of JotSpot, a three-year-old private company that runs wikis, or communal web pages.

The acquisition also opens a new front in the competition between Google and Microsoft, further rounding out the internet company's package of 'productivity' and collaboration tools that are coming to resemble an online version of the Office desktop software.

Founded by Joe Kraus - whose earlier creation, the internet portal Excite, experienced one of the most dramatic rises and falls of the dotcom era - JotSpot is one of several 'Web 2.0' companies that have aimed their services mainly at corporate rather than individual users.

Wikis are web pages that can be written or edited by a group, making them a potentially useful tool for workers in different locations who are trying to collaborate.

As such, they reduce the need for large numbers of group emails and attachments, which have become the bane of many office workers' lives."